CAMDEN — The New York Police Department apparently solved the 33-year-old disappearance of young Etan Patz when they arrested a Camden area man who admitted Wednesday to strangling the boy, but gave no reason why, according to two high-ranking law enforcement sources.

New York City investigators tracked Pedro Hernandez to Maple Shade in Burlington County, and he confessed Wednesday to kidnapping and strangling Etan Patz, according to the sources, who spoke to The Star-Ledger on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case with the media.

Investigators had planned on bringing Hernandez from Camden to the SoHo neighborhood where Patz vanished 33 years ago, according to one source, who said police wanted the suspect to recreate the kidnapping.

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly issued a statement yesterday confirming that an arrest was made, but declined to provide further details.

"An individual now in custody has made statements to NYPD detectives implicating himself in the disappearance and death of Etan Patz 33 years ago," Kelly said. He expects to release more information today.

Jason Loughlin, a spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, confirmed NYPD detectives were in the area yesterday and that they used the prosecutor's office to conduct interviews. But Loughlin would not say if those interviews were connected to Patz's disappearance.

A law enforcement source confirmed that Hernandez was interviewed at the prosecutor's office for hours on Wednesday.

Hernandez told investigators he wrapped Patz's body in a bag and put it in a box, the New York Times is reporting. Hernandez then left the box at a Manhattan location, but when he returned days later the box was missing.

The Times also reported that Hernandez worked at a bodega near where Patz went missing in 1979. NBC New York says Hernandez used candy to lure the 6-year-old.

Media trucks were lined up along the street in New York City outside of the building where Etan went missing 33 years ago, and where his parents still live.

A former Cranford resident became visibly emotional as she stared at the building on Spring Street, and said she remembers the disappearance well.

"I hope something comes of this once and for all. These are all our children," said the woman, who would pass by the street frequently when she worked in the neighborhood at the time. She didn't want her name published.

"I just hope today is the day ... it's only part closure," she said. "I mean, at least you know. But for the parents, their hearts are always broken."

The sources would not say how Hernandez was located. While he admitted to snatching up Patz from his SoHo neighborhood when the boy was just 6 years old, Hernandez would not say why he went after the boy, according to the sources.

Patz was declared dead in 2001, and the case has remained frozen for years. But interest in the boy's disappearance picked up last month, when a cadaver-sniffing dog picked up a scent in a old basement less than a block away from Patz's childhood home.

Investigators tore apart the property with jackhammers and circular saws, but ultimately found nothing.

Patz vanished on May 25, 1979, while walking alone to his school bus stop for the first time. He was one of the first missing children to have has face plastered on the side of a milk carton. Fliers were posted throughout New York City and hundreds of people were interviewed, but the case always seemed to yield more questions than answers.

Staff writers Alexi Friedman and Seth Augenstein and the Associated Press contributed to this report.